The present invention relates to apparatus for and methods of verifying both the physical identity of an individual and that individual""s authority to gain access to a secured site. More particularly, the invention relates to methods of verifying user identity and authority to access an otherwise inaccessible physical space, body of data, etc., and to a hand held device useful in the implementation of such methods. The methods and apparatus of the invention are of the type including input and recognition of a biometric parameter of the user.
For purposes of the present discussion and disclosure of the invention, the term xe2x80x9csecure(d) sitexe2x80x9d is used to refer to both physical areas, spaces and devices, as well as electronic domains, databases, and the like, to which access is restricted to certain authorized users. Access to a secured site may be provided either entirely electronically, as to a data bank, or by a combination of electronic and mechanical means, as by releasing a lock in response to authenticated electrical signals. The term xe2x80x9cbiometric parameter/characteristic/featurexe2x80x9d is used to denote one or more physical attributes uniquely associated with a particular individual, such as a finger, thumb or hand print, a retinal or facial scan, a DNA sample, and the like. The term xe2x80x9cbiometric templatexe2x80x9d refers to a body of stored or storable electronic signals which uniquely correspond to a biometric parameter. The acronym xe2x80x9cPINxe2x80x9d (Personal Identification Number) is defined as a sequence of characters (numbers, letters, symbols, etc.) each of which is, or may be, represented by a corresponding electrical signal, electrically or magnetically recorded code, or the like, and is used synonymously with xe2x80x9cpassword.xe2x80x9d The art and science of authentication and identification of human individuals is embodied in the simple concept of uniqueness. Uniqueness is defined, within acceptable risk parameters, as one or a combination of only three possible things, namely, (in the order of their traditional ranking from weakest to strongest): 1. something known only (uniquely) by the individual and which is verifiable by the secure host (e.g., mother""s maiden name, a PIN, etc.) 2. something physically possessed only (uniquely) by the individual and verifiable by the secure host (e.g., a token, smart card or synchronous algorithm result), and 3. some (unique) biometric parameter of the individual verifiable by the host. When one or more of these indicia of uniqueness is/are presented to and verified by the host, the individual is deemed to be authenticated as to identity and access to the secure site is permitted. In order for an individual to present biometric and token based indicia of uniqueness to a host by conventional means, special provisions must be made at each host, often requiring apparatus at the user site interconnected to the host. For example, under traditional biometric and token based systems, a biometric template and/or token is passed to the host for authentication via a client-side reader compatible with the particular security/authentication hardware and software employed. The indicia of uniqueness must be received by the host and compared against a known and correlated collection of stored data. Accordingly, a privacy issue is raised as the individual user is required to relinquish otherwise private biometric data, in template form, to the host. Understandably, this results in a reluctance to accept and utilize such systems and is responsible, in large part, for the fact that such systems are not in widespread use today. Although a biometric scan is often used as the sole presentation of uniqueness to gain access to a secure workplace, and therefore xe2x80x9cvoluntaryxe2x80x9d only to the extent of accepting or declining the work, the combination of possessive (coded card) and cognitive (short PIN) indicia of uniqueness remains the ubiquitous form of authentication.
In general terms, the object of the present invention is to provide an authentication system based on indicia of uniqueness which includes biometric parameters without relinquishing personal possession and privacy of such parameters, i.e., a system wherein the host does not store or recognize biometric templates and plays no role in the authentication of the user.
More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide an authentication system (apparatus and method) for gaining access to secure site(s) which requires no reader or other such input device at the user side interconnected to the host which protects access to the secured site.
Another object is to provide access authentication apparatus in the form of a hand-held device for storing a biometric parameter of an individual and operable to provide a PIN only in response to presentation of that parameter by the individual to input means on the device.
A further object is to provide novel and improved apparatus and methods of verifying the identity of an individual and authenticating that individual""s authority to access a secure site utilizing biometric activation techniques and purely random PIN generation, time stamp management and encrypted storage, through a pocket-size device which never leaves the individual""s possession.
Still another object is to provide a highly secure, totally private, commercially viable system of authenticating identity of an individual user and verifying that the individual is among those having authorized access to one or more secure sites.
A still further object is to provide apparatus for gaining access to a secured site wherein the apparatus is actuable only in response to confirmed biometric identification of the user without requiring storage of or otherwise permitting access to any biometric parameter or template other than by the user.
Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.
In accordance with and furtherance of the foregoing objects, the invention contemplates a form of security apparatus in the nature of a hand-held, pocket sized device comprising a unitary body portion having thereon a window for an LCD display, a small keypad and a biometric input pad. Within the body portion are a microprocessor with a plurality of on-chip peripheral devices including means for generating and storing a bionic template in response to biometric information presented to the input pad, a random number generator, ROM program storage, SRAM data storage and EEPROM memory. The device may optionally include a conventional output port. The keypad of the illustrated embodiment consists of four scroll keys (up, down, left, right) and an xe2x80x9centerxe2x80x9d key. The device is initially set up, prior to the first use, by pressing the enter key, placing the ball of a selected finger (hereinafter assumed to be and denoted as a thumb print) on the biometric input pad until xe2x80x9cAcceptedxe2x80x9d appears on the LCD display, indicating that the bionic template has been generated and stored within the device. The device may then be deactivated either by pressing the enter key or by non-use for a predetermined time period. In order either to generate and store new PINs or to recall previously stored PINs for use with secure sites, the device must first be activated by the authorized user placing his/her thumb on the biometric input pad and pressing the enter key, whereupon the device will be activated if the presented thumb print template matches the previously stored template. To generate a new PIN, after activating the device the user presses the scroll-down key until xe2x80x9cNew Passwordxe2x80x9d appears on the LCD display and then presses the enter key. The scroll keys are then used to compose an alphanumeric name, one character at a time, for the system to which the password is to apply. When the name assigned to the system appears in the LCD display, the enter key is again pressed. A template for the PIN (length, a/n positioning, security level) is displayed and the user enters the desired parameters and again presses the enter key, in response to which a random number is generated within the device and displayed in the LCD window. It is contemplated that the PIN will be relatively long, e.g., 20 characters, and is not intended to be memorized by the user. After going online to the logon screen of the system to be accessed via a PC in communications with the system, the user follows the system""s instructions for initial PIN entry and enters the PIN shown in the LCD display via the PC keyboard. Alternatively, the PIN may be downloaded from memory within the device, through an output port on the device to PC memory or directly to the secure site via a PC in communication therewith. After entry of a PIN, the device is deactivated by pressing the enter key or by a period of non-use.
To access a system to which a name and PIN have been assigned, the user again activates the device by placing the thumb on the input pad and pressing the enter key. The scroll-down key is pressed until the name of the system to be accessed appears in the LCD display. The enter key is pressed, causing the previously assigned PIN to appear in the LCD display. The user enters the pin via the keyboard of the PC which is in communication with the system, whereupon the entered PIN is compared with the stored PIN and the user is granted access to the system. The device is capable of generating random PINs and storing them under a selected name for several (e.g., 20) systems to which the user is authorized to have access. The PIN may be changed, i.e., a new PIN assigned to any system, whenever the user wishes by logging onto the system and going through the xe2x80x9cChange Passwordxe2x80x9d protocol. This procedure may also be followed for changing from a previously assigned PIN in a particular system to a PIN randomly generated by the device of the invention. In any case, before generating a new PIN or recalling a previously assigned PIN it is necessary to activate the device by means of the user""s thumb print, thus preventing activation of the device to enter or recall PINs by anyone other than the user whose biometric template is stored in the device memory. Moreover, the user""s biometric data does not leave his/her possession, the single biometric template being stored in the device only for purposes of comparison with thumb prints presented to the biometric input pad subsequent to initialization. Accordingly, the device is useless to anyone other than the authorized user and no biometric information is even potentially accessible to others. The foregoing and other features of construction and operation of the device, and the steps involved in practicing the method of the invention, will be more clearly understood and fully appreciated from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.